


You ain't gonna like this girl...

by FictionalKnight (Northern_Star)



Category: You've Got Mail (1998)
Genre: F/M, Introspection, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-24
Updated: 2010-12-24
Packaged: 2017-10-14 02:10:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/144191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Northern_Star/pseuds/FictionalKnight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Joe takes one glance inside the café, seeing with his own eyes what Kevin has just told him, yet his ears absolutely refused to believe: the woman he's supposed to meet really is Kathleen Kelly.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You ain't gonna like this girl...

**Author's Note:**

  * For [galfridian](https://archiveofourown.org/users/galfridian/gifts).



> I really wanted to write something in this fandom, so I took the plunge when I saw your prompt. :) It's not a lot, but I'm happy to offer it to you.

Joe takes one glance inside the café, seeing with his own eyes what Kevin has just told him, yet his ears absolutely refused to believe: the woman he's supposed to meet really _is_ Kathleen Kelly.

He turns away from the door, looks at Kevin, eyes still wide. He can't believe that this could be happening.

"So what are you gonna do?" Kevin asks.

Joe thinks for a moment, then sighs. "Nothing," he says.

"What do you mean, nothing? You're just going to let her wait there all night?"

"Yes, yes I am," says Joe, "that's exactly what I'm going to do." He sounds a little unsure, but as he speaks, he seems to gradually become convinced. "Goodnight Kevin," he adds, in an assertive tone. "I'll see you in the morning."

Then he starts walking away from the café, shoulders slumped, head down, hands buried deep in the pockets of his trenchcoat.

He can't believe that ShopGirl could possibly be Kathleen. And yet thinking about it now, really, he can. As he goes on walking, he starts to see all the little hints he's never seen before, and all the things he might have picked up on, if he'd been a smart man, and then he really can't imagine anymore how ShopGirl could possibly have been anyone besides Kathleen Kelly.

And he remembers why he felt so compelled to meet this woman in the first place, because of course he's known all along. He's known ever since he suggested a meeting. He's known well before then.

As Joe reaches the corner of the street he stops, kicking at an invisible rock in frustration. Why is he walking away? He can't just let her wait there all night -- of course he can't! Just a few minutes prior, he'd been ready to turn his life around for whoever was waiting for him inside the café... there was a reason for that, and he remembers it now with great clarity.

He risks a glance over his shoulder, making sure Kevin isn't still standing there on the doorstep of the café. He doesn't want his friend to know that he's changed his mind; doesn't want him to see what he's about to do. It's hard enough explaining it to himself, there's no way he's going to explain it to someone else -- he might lose his nerve then, anyway.

There isn't any sign of Kevin being there at all, so Joe starts walking back toward the café, slowly at first, then more surely, making it right up the five little steps leading to the café's glass doors. He doesn't know for sure what he'll do once he walks inside, or what he'll say, but he'll figure it out, he knows. It'll come to him when he's there.

Of course, Kathleen Kelly might not want to give him the time of day -- or night, as it were -- especially not considering the circumstances, but despite that, she _is_ the most adorable creature he's ever been in contact with, and he couldn't possibly let her sit there alone all night, waiting. He's not _that_ heartless.

So, taking a deep breath, Joe opens the door and walks inside, once and for all.

/End.


End file.
